An account was given of the porch of the house in
the close of the foregoing chapter; this brings us to the temple
itself, the description of which here given creates much difficulty
to the critical expositors and occasions differences among them.
Those must consult them who are nice in their enquiries into the
meaning of the particulars of this delineation; it shall suffice us
to observe, I. The dimensions of the house, the posts of it
(ver. 1), the door
(ver. 2), the wall and the
side-chambers (ver. 5,
6), the foundations and wall of the chambers, their
doors (ver. 8-11), and
the house itself, ver. 13.
II. The dimensions of the oracle, or most holy place, ver. 3, 4. III. An account of
another building over against the separate place, ver. 12-15. IV. The manner of the
building of the house, ver. 7,
16, 17. V. The ornaments of the house, ver. 18-20. VI. The altar of
incense and the table, ver.
22. VII. The doors between the temple and the oracle,
ver. 23-26. There is so
much difference both in the terms and in the rules of architecture
between one age and another, one place and another, that it ought
not to be any stumbling-block to us that there is so much in these
descriptions dark and hard to be understood, about the meaning of
which the learned are not agreed. To one not skilled in mathematics
the mathematical description of a modern structure would be
scarcely intelligible; and yet to a common carpenter or mason among
the Jews at that time we may suppose that all this, in the literal
sense of it, was easy enough.

The Vision of the Temple. (b. c. 574.)

1 Afterward he brought me to the temple, and
measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six
cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the
tabernacle. 2 And the breadth of the door was ten
cubits; and the sides of the door were five cubits on the
one side, and five cubits on the other side: and he measured the
length thereof, forty cubits: and the breadth, twenty cubits.
3 Then went he inward, and measured the post of the door,
two cubits; and the door, six cubits; and the breadth of the door,
seven cubits. 4 So he measured the length thereof, twenty
cubits; and the breadth, twenty cubits, before the temple: and he
said unto me, This is the most holy place. 5
After he measured the wall of the house, six cubits; and the
breadth of every side chamber, four cubits, round about the
house on every side. 6 And the side chambers were
three, one over another, and thirty in order; and they entered into
the wall which was of the house for the side chambers round
about, that they might have hold, but they had not hold in the wall
of the house. 7 And there was an enlarging, and a
winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding
about of the house went still upward round about the house:
therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so
increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by
the midst. 8 I saw also the height of the house round about:
the foundations of the side chambers were a full reed of six
great cubits. 9 The thickness of the wall, which was
for the side chamber without, was five cubits: and
that which was left was the place of the side
chambers that were within. 10 And between the
chambers was the wideness of twenty cubits round about the
house on every side. 11 And the doors of the side chambers
were toward the place that was left, one door toward
the north, and another door toward the south: and the breadth of
the place that was left was five cubits round about.

We are still attending a prophet that is
under the guidance of an angel, and therefore attend with
reverence, though we are often at a loss to know both what this is
and what it is to us. Observe here, 1. After the prophet had
observed the courts he was at length brought to the temple,
v. 1. If we
diligently attend to the instructions given us in the plainer parts
of religion, and profit by them, we shall be led further into an
acquaintance with the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Those
that are willing to dwell in God's courts shall at length be
brought into his temple. Ezekiel was himself a priest, but by the
iniquity and calamity of the times was cut short of his birthright
privilege of ministering in the temple; but God makes up the loss
to him by introducing him into this prophetical, evangelical,
celestial temple, and employing him to transmit a description of it
to the church, in which he was dignified above all the rest of his
order. 2. When our Lord Jesus spoke of the destroying of this
temple, which his hearers understood of this second temple of
Jerusalem, he spoke of the temple of his body (John ii. 19, 21); and with good reason
might he speak so ambiguously when Ezekiel's vision had a joint
respect to them both together, including also his mystical body the
church, which is called the house of God (1 Tim. iii. 15), and all the members of that
body, which are living temples, in which the Spirit dwells.
3. The very posts of this temple, the door-posts, were as far one
from the other, and consequently the door was as wide, as
the whole breadth of the tabernacle of Moses
(v. 1), namely,
twelve cubits, Exod. xxvi. 16,
22, 25. In comparison with what had been under the law
we may say, Wide is the gate which leads into the church,
the ceremonial law, that wall of partition which had so much
straitened the gate, being taken down. 4. The most holy place was
an exact square, twenty cubits each way, v. 4. For the new Jerusalem is exactly
square (Rev. xxi. 16),
denoting its stability; for we look for a city that cannot be
moved. 5. The upper stories were larger than the lower, v. 7. The walls of the temple
were six cubits thick at the bottom, five in the middle story, and
four in the highest, which gave room to enlarge the chambers the
higher they went; but care was taken that the timber might have
fast hold (though God builds high, he builds firmly), yet so
as not to weaken one part for the strengthening of another; they
had hold, but not in the wall of the house. By this
spreading gradually, the side-chambers that were on the
height of the house (in the uppermost story of all) were six
cubits, whereas the lowest were but four; they gained a cubit every
story. The higher we build up ourselves in our most holy faith the
more should our hearts, those living temples, be enlarged.

The Vision of the Temple. (b. c. 574.)

12 Now the building that was before the
separate place at the end toward the west was seventy cubits
broad; and the wall of the building was five cubits thick
round about, and the length thereof ninety cubits. 13 So he
measured the house, a hundred cubits long; and the separate place,
and the building, with the walls thereof, an hundred cubits long;
14 Also the breadth of the face of the house, and of the
separate place toward the east, a hundred cubits. 15 And he
measured the length of the building over against the separate place
which was behind it, and the galleries thereof on the one
side and on the other side, a hundred cubits, with the inner
temple, and the porches of the court; 16 The door posts, and
the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three
stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and
from the ground up to the windows, and the windows were
covered; 17 To that above the door, even unto the inner
house, and without, and by all the wall round about within and
without, by measure. 18 And it was made with
cherubims and palm trees, so that a palm tree was between a
cherub and a cherub; and every cherub had two faces;
19 So that the face of a man was toward the palm tree on the
one side, and the face of a young lion toward the palm tree on the
other side: it was made through all the house round about.
20 From the ground unto above the door were cherubims
and palm trees made, and on the wall of the temple.
21 The posts of the temple were squared, and the face
of the sanctuary; the appearance of the one as the
appearance of the other. 22 The altar of wood
was three cubits high, and the length thereof two cubits;
and the corners thereof, and the length thereof, and the walls
thereof, were of wood: and he said unto me, This is
the table that is before the Lord. 23 And the temple and the sanctuary
had two doors. 24 And the doors had two leaves
apiece, two turning leaves; two leaves for the one
door, and two leaves for the other door. 25 And
there were made on them, on the doors of the temple,
cherubims and palm trees, like as were made upon the walls;
and there were thick planks upon the face of the porch
without. 26 And there were narrow windows and palm
trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the
porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick
planks.

Here is, 1. An account of a building that
was before the separate place (that is, before the temple),
at the end towards the west (v. 12), which is here measured, and
compared (v. 13)
with the measure of the house, and appears to be of equal
dimensions with it. This stood in a court by itself, which is
measured (v. 15)
and its galleries, or chambers belonging to it, its posts and
windows, and the ornaments of them, v. 15-17. But what use was to be
made of this other building we are not told; perhaps, in this
vision, it signified the setting up of a church among the Gentiles
not inferior to the Jewish temple, but of quite another nature, and
which should soon supersede it. 2. A description of the ornaments
of the temple, and the other building. The walls on the inside from
top to bottom were adorned with cherubim and palm-trees,
placed alternately, as in Solomon's temple, 1 Kings vi. 29. Each cherub is here said to
have two faces, the face of a man towards the palm
tree on one side and the face of a young lion towards the
palm-tree on the other side, v. 19. These seem to represent the
angels, who have more than the wisdom of a man and the courage of a
lion; and in both they have an eye to the palms of victory and
triumph which are set before them, and which they are sure of in
all their conflicts with the powers of darkness, and you can find
more about that here on
st-takla.org on other commentaries and
dictionary entries. And in the
assemblies of the saints angels are in a special manner present,
1 Cor. xi. 10. 3. A
description of the posts of the doors both of the temple and of the
sanctuary; they were squared (v. 21), not round like pillars; and
the appearance of the one was as the appearance of the
other. In the tabernacle, and in Solomon's temple, the door of
the sanctuary, or most holy, was narrower than that of the temple,
but here it was fully as broad; for in gospel-times the way into
the holiest of all is made more manifest than it was
under the Old Testament (Heb. ix.
8) and therefore the door is wider. These doors are
described, v. 23,
24. The temple and the sanctuary had each of them its
door, and they were two-leaved, folding doors. 4. We have
here the description of the altar of incense, here said to be an
altar of wood, v.
22. No mention is made of its being over-laid with
gold; but surely it was intended to be so, else it would not
bear the fire with which the incense was to be burned, unless we
will suppose that it served only to put the censers upon. Or else
it intimates that the incense to be offered in the gospel-temple
shall be purely spiritual, and the fire spiritual, which will not
consume an altar of wood. Therefore this altar is called a table.
This is the table that is before the Lord. Here, as before,
we find the altar turned into a table; for, the great sacrifice
being now offered, that which we have to do is to feast upon the
sacrifice at the Lord's table. 5. Here is the adorning of the doors
and windows with palm-trees, that they might be of a piece with the
walls of the house, v. 25,
26. Thus the living temples are adorned, not with gold,
or silver, or costly array, but with the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is not corruptible.